Penguin Underground
by t.j.guard
Summary: A penguin on the run finds our favorite group of Penguins and seeks their help. This is more than just another day at the zoo. mild skivate, if you squint real hard
1. Chapter 1

Penguin Underground

Disclaimer: I don't own Penguins of Madagascar

A/N: mild Skivate

Chapter One

She ran, hard and fast, until she found something level that she could slide on. They were closing fast, but she maintained a steady lead. It wouldn't last forever, but it was enough, for now.

Up ahead, she could see a pair of gates with a brick arch over them. It was her last hope. The penguins behind her had gained more than she thought, so she banked hard, slipping through two of the iron bars of the gate at an angle. As soon as she was a safe distance away, she slowed and got to her feet. A swath of black and white only about a foot tall met her eyes as she studied the gate.

She turned away and slid down the cobblestone walkway on her belly, listening for anything she could recognize as penguin. When she found what she was looking for, she stopped and studied what was before her for a moment before hopping onto the trashcan and springboarding off of that over the wall and into the water.

She tapped on the nearest glass window she found, attracting the attention of the four penguins who were playing some form of card game on the floor in the center of the underwater chamber. A flatheaded penguin leapt to his feet and gestured for her to go up, so she did. The penguin popped up out from under a food dish and stuck his head over the edge of the concrete circle. "Who are you and how'd you find this place?"

"I'm a runaway seeking refuge," she said. "I found this place because I was looking, looking for fellow penguins."

"No, seriously, whaddaya want?"

"I need to be careful. I'm sure they found a way to break through the gates by now. I just need to hide here for a little while and then find a way to get out without anyone noticing I was anywhere."

The penguin glanced up at the edge of the habitat, and for a moment, she thought he noticed exactly what she was afraid of, but then he said, "Get up here." She launched herself out of the water and landed almost seamlessly on the top of the concrete rectangle. "What's your name?"

"You don't need to know that. All you need to know is that I'm on the run and that I'm becoming desperate."

"Just how desperate?" The male penguin folded his flippers across his chest, and she glanced over the top of the brick wall at the gates, where the vast penguin mob was dissipating.

"They know I've escaped. I can't get anywhere yet, and this is my only option."

"It doesn't look too bad from where I'm stand."

"You don't understand. They'll come back, better, faster, stronger than before. That's how it works, that's how it always works."

"You know them?"

"Whadda you think?"

He narrowed her eyes at her, and the three other penguins hopped through the hole under the food dish. One with a light British accent asked, "Who's she?"

"What'd you say your name was?" the lead penguin asked, narrowing his eyes at the female penguin.

"I didn't," she replied. "All I said was I'm a refugee."

The tall penguin took out a crayon and notepad from God-knows-where and gave her a glance before taking a few notes. He looked at her some more and then took a few more notes. "Are you a transfer?" the tall penguin asked.

"No."

He wrote this down and studied her some more.

The penguin with the mohawk grunted something, and the tall one nodded in ascent as if he understood what the technically mute one said. She looked from the tall and mute penguins to the short one with the British accent. She felt a smile tug at her beak, and then the flatheaded one got her attention again. "Where're you from?" he asked.

"Outside."

"Outside where?"

"I can't give you the location of their base, but it is close. I got here within an hour."

"Kowalski, options."

The tall penguin looked over his notes and produced an abacus from apparently the same place he'd produced the notepad and crayon. He made a few calculations and said, "The base is within a few miles of where we're standing right now. We could get there tonight if we left right now."

"We know too little," the flathead replied. "We need more options."

"Uh, wait for them to come back?" Kowlaski asked, uncertainly.

"Skippa," the British penguin began, "is that...is that safe?"

"You've got nothing to worry about, Private. You know we're secure here."

"I know that, Skippa, but what about for her?"

"Girly's fine here."

She struck him at the base of his head, on the side closest to her, and he collapsed face first on top of the concrete roof. The other three penguins stared at her in astonishment.

"When he wakes up, I'll tell him she can take care of herself," Kowalski said. He and the penguin with the mohawk slipped under the food dish with their leader's body and disappeared from sight, leaving her with Private.

"I'd really like to know your name," he said weakly. "I'm Private." He held his flipper out to her. "You met our leader, Skipper, and Kowalksi, the genius, and the one with the mohawk and scar is Rico."

She shook his flipper and said. "Aeon."

"Excuse me?"

"That's my name. Aeon."

"I haven't heard of anyone with that name before. It's really interesting."

"You think so?"

"Of course." Aeon glanced around again, prompting Private to ask, "What are you looking for?"

"Nothing. Just making sure they haven't come yet."

"Making sure who's not coming?"

Aeon was about to answer, but Kowalski's head popped up from under the food dish, and he said, "You two better come inside."

POM

Skipper's eyes fluttered open and he got to his feet. Private and the girl were standing against the wall, facing him. Kowalski and Rico were almost opposite each other in the space between their leader and the two others. "Fish and chips, man. What's going on here?" he asked.

"I just don't like being called girly," the girl replied. "My name's Aeon."

"Aeon? Never heard of that one before."

"That's what I said," Private added, but a sharp look from Skipper made sure nothing else fell out of his beak.

Skipper redirected his attention toward Aeon. "So why didn't you tell us this before?"

"They were watching."

"They? Who's they?" Kowalski asked.

"They. Them, the ones who're always trying to get us," Skipper replied. "Haven't you been paying attention, man?"

"It just seems to me that 'They' are a paranoid delusion."

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you," Aeon said. "And in my case, they are. I can't say a whole lot, but they are based close by."

"Can we find them?" Private asked. "I mean, can we really do it?"

"We can, it's just...complicated."

"Complicated how?" Skipper asked, folding his flippers across his chest and narrowing his eyes at Aeon.

"Their base is heavily guarded, lined with gunpowder and God knows how many triggers for it. If getting out is risky, then going in is almost impossible."

"Good. We live for impossible."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Skipper led Aeon through basic training for the rest of the night, kicking it up a notch or two when she proved herself to him. As the sun rose and a zookeeper ran the rounds of opening the zoo up for the day, she was ushered inside the headquarters and the others rushed outside and put on some form of act that they seemed to have kept up every day for who knows how long and also seemed to have down pat.

Aeon paced across the main room, the one she saw through the window the previous night. Sleep wasn't coming to her, no matter how much she wanted it to. Her mind was too active, busily rushing through half-baked plan after half-baked plan, unable to settle on anything which could be considered viable.

She kept this up for several hours before Private slipped into the room and asked, "Aeon, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. I'm just trying to figure out what we're gonna-"

They could hear a muffled pop, followed by an equally muffled clang. Aeon and Private slipped out of the room through a ladder and up through the hole covered by the food dish. Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico were staring down the walkway at a smoke cloud curling over the walkway. A few feet from the walkway lay a manhole cover. All witnesses were in stunned silence, even a redheaded zookeeper with a nametag which read 'Alice'.

Skipper finally swallowed his surprise and gestured to the others to come closer, in something of a huddle, all watching the cloud of smoke rising up into the air. In this fashion, Aeon ended up slightly alienated as Private snuck up to Skipper's side and she was on the fringes.

"They found us," she breathed. "Or, at least, they know I'm missing."

"That bad?" Skipper replied in the same low voice.

"It is."

Eventually, the zookeeper named Alice kicked into gear and organized the humans into a systematic evacuation of the zoo. The animals were placed on some version of a lockdown, and then she left.

The four male penguins exchanged glances, and Aeon inched toward the edge of the concrete rectangle, her eyes on the smoke rising from the manhole, which had almost completely dissipated.

"What do we do?" Private asked.

"What is with the goings on?" a lemur with an accent asked, leaping up onto the ledge on top of the short brick wall.

"Nothing you need to know, Ringtail," Skipper said evenly. "This is classified."

"Classified, is it? Ooo, sounds interesting."

Aeon stared at the lemur and was tempted to ask, "Who's he?" but a second lemur hopped up and tapped the first on the shoulder. "King Julien, maybe we should just let the penguins do their thing? They do know what they're doing better than us."

"Shut up, Maurice," Julien snapped.

"Can this place get any wierder?" Aeon asked, studying the lemurs.

"I assure you, ma'am, these two are acting completely normal," Skipper replied, his flippers on his hips.

"This is normal?"

"Absolutely," Private said. "It's just Julien being Julien."

She rolled her eyes and returned her attention to where the manhole cover lay. "Isn't this the part where we search for clues?" she asked.

"You retained a lot for a sleepless night," Skipper said. "Move out." On cue, the four male penguins, followed closely by Aeon, leapt out of the penguin shelter and slid down the walkway on their bellies.

The rim of the manhole was covered in soot which seemed to radiate out from it. Kowalski examined the soot, and Rico looked at him hopefully for a moment before asking, "Kaboom?"

"It seems to be so, given the evidence," Kowalski replied.

"What's down there?" Skipper asked.

"I'm assuming an easy route to the base," Aeon replied, taking a step toward the manhole.

"Care to lead us in?"

Aeon leapt into the manhole with a showy flip before being followed by the other penguins, who were decidedly less showy. They landed in water, and she led them in a swim away from the manhole, popping up every now and again either for air or to make sure she had them on the right track. She stopped them as soon as she heard voices, and they hopped up onto the nearest ledge and leaned in closer to the voices.

"Enrique, she better be found, today," one of the voices snapped. It was a little bit breathy, like it belonged to an older person. "I won't stand for excuses."

"She's under the protection of a locally based unit," the other one, presumably Enrique, replied in a slight Spanish accent. "I don't know if I can get her alone without risking their suspicions."

"We can deal with the unit. It's only one unit, after all."

"And by now they probably have allies in that zoo up there."

"That part doesn't matter. You just get me Aeon. Today."

Aeon glanced back at the other four penguins and gulped as silently as she could manage. She was already running a huge risk, she knew that much, but hearing about it was chilling her to the bone.

"Sir, we don't have the time to get her back without jeapordizing our whole mission."

"And unless she leads the unit right to us, we won't have her back in time to complete the mission."

"Is she that crucial that we need her to finish this?"

"Yes! Now, find her."

The five penguins slipped into the water just as a penguin which bore a lot of resemblance to Rico slid down the ledge, disappearing down the sewer tunnel. A second penguin, this one looking a little too much like Skipper for comfort, scanned the surface of the water for a moment before walking back down the offshoot tunnel.

They popped up and looked around. "Is it safe?" Private whispered.

"Should be," Aeon replied, leading them down the offshoot tunnel.

Private stole a glance at Skipper and felt himself relax at the sight of his leader's fearless expression. He even smiled a little as he followed Aeon down the tunnel.

Aeon popped her head up to get her bearings and take a breath before dipping under the surface of the water again. The five continued to swim until they reached an iron gate, at which point they all popped up and studied their surroundings.

"Where are we, exactly?" Skipper asked, eyeing Aeon.

"This is the back way," Aeon replied, studying the iron gate for a moment before slipping in between the bars. The others followed suit, single file, until all five were beyond the gate.

The chamber in front of them was a lot more expansive than the tunnel, and the water only continued for a few more feet before giving way to a metal floor with a light dusting of some form of powder. At the end of the chamber was a heavy metal door, about penguin-size. "That's unusual," Skipper said.

"What's unusual is that it's not guarded," Aeon countered. She hopped up onto the metal floor and studied the door. "We're alone here."

"Well, all the better for us," Kowalski said as the four other penguins hopped up to join Aeon on the metal platform. "Statistically, it's virtually impossible for someone to notice us when we're alone in a room with these dimensions, this far underground. By my calculations-" He was cut off by Skipper's sharp slap, and they fell into silence again.

Cutting through the silence was a boom, and the door fell to the floor with a loud clang, followed by slow, methodical clapping.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

When the smoke cleared, Aeon was quick to notice that all four male penguins had frozen in complete and utter shock, with a dash of terror thrown in. She looked from the penguins to the purple-beaked, black and white puffin standing across the threshold, doing the clapping. He stopped clapping and took a step forward. "You know, Skipper," he said, "Hoboken is nice. I might go back someday. Just not today."

"You two know each other?" Aeon asked, glancing from Skipper to the puffin and back again.

"You know Hans?" Skipper asked, giving Aeon a sidelong glance.

"Bet you weren't expecting this, Skipper," Hans said. "Aeon and I, we made quite the team until she left. Always the frisky one, she is."

"You know Aeon?" Kowalski asked, eyeing Hans.

"Someone please explain to me what is going on here!" Private said desperately, to no one in particular and staring up at the ceiling.

"Skipper knows me from Denmark, you know that much," Hans said, "but he hasn't told you half the story. Not even close." He took a few more steps forward and studied Skipper. "I found some of my very nice allies in Hoboken. I hope you know that."

"What do you want this time, Hans?" Skipper asked.

"It's not me that wants anything. I'm just following orders."

Skipper lunged for Hans, and the two ended up in an evenly matched fight which, after a few moments, Aeon had to break up by slapping them both simultaneously. "Who do you work for?" Skipper asked as Aeon pressed her flippers to their chests. "Who's giving you the go-ahead?"

"I'm not telling you." Hans lunged for Skipper, and out of nowhere, Private bounced off a wall and flew in from the side, kicking Hans in the side and sending him into one of the metal walls. Private glanced back at Skipper and smiled softly before returning his attention to Hans as he got to his feet.

Aeon watched Hans carefully, hoping desperately to divine his next move any way she could. Unfortunately, she never expected him to knock Private out and then promptly take a kick from Skipper. Again, Hans was sent against the wall and almost knocked unconcsious, and again, he managed to get to his feet and give Skipper the same cold look he'd given him the whole time.

"Skipper," Kowalski began, whispering in his leader's ear, "maybe we should... RUN!" He leapt into the water without further ado, and he was followed closely by Rico. Skipper and Private were the next pair under, and Aeon made a mad dash toward the water.

Hans lunged for her, reaching for her ankle, but she slipped just out of reach in the nick of time and slipped under the surface of the water.

The five penguins slipped out through the gate and swam down the tunnel back the way they came as fast as they could, popping up only for air.

POM

"Well, that was rather unusual," Skipper said, pacing in front of the row of four other penguins, safe and sound at the headquarters. He stopped in front of Aeon and turned to face her. "How do you know Hans?"

"I worked with him in the past, albeit not in Denmark," Aeon replied.

"So, you know about Denmark, too, huh? How much?"

"Not much, just what Hans told me about how he worked with this quirky penguin, his words not mine, and almost got killed."

"A little bit hyperbolic, but I'll take it. Now, about the underground base."

"Ask me anything and I'll do my best to answer."

"Good answer. On the average day, how heavily guarded is it?"

"Pretty heavily. We don't have a history of break-ins."

"What about break-outs?"

"We've had a few, and all who went before me were recaptured."

"Not a very good track record for the escapees, at least, not statistically," Kowalski said, fiddling with an abacus.

"Interesting. Aeon, do you know what they're up to down there?"

She shook her head 'no' and said, "I don't, Skipper. I'm not qualified to."

"So we can only assume this isn't good."

A chipper voice sounded, "Knock, knock," and in walked an otter, Julien and Maurice, and a small lemur.

"Marlene, we're in the middle of something," Skipper snapped, his face turned toward the otter and his flippers pointed at Aeon.

"Relax, Skipper. You're always in the middle of something. We just wanted to stop by and say hi," Marlene said, and then she noticed Aeon. "Hi, what's your name?"

"Uh, Aeon," she said, glancing around in random directions.

"I'm Marlene."

"Uh, nice meeting you?"

"This is awkward," Private said after a moment of stiff silence.

"Ooo, are you in the middle of getting to the bottom of the explosion thingy?" Julien asked, his tail in one hand as he cast his curious gaze in Skipper's direction.

"That's classified, Ringtail."

"Oo, I like classified," the little lemur piped up.

"You stay outta this, Sad-eyes." The one called Sad-eyes took a few steps back and actually did look sad, something like a puppy looking for a home. Skipper looked at him for another second before turning back toward the row of penguins. "Kowalski, report."

"It seems that whatever is going on involves Aeon, Hans, a penguin named Enrique, a lead penguin presiding over who knows how many others, and, apparently us," Kowalski said. "Also, there seems to be some important, time sensitive mission this other group of penguins wants done ASAP, which happens to be where Aeon comes in. Enrique appears to be the one in charge of ensuring his leader that Aeon makes it back to the underground base."

"Hans was a partner of mine for a few weeks," Aeon said, "We did a few jobs together, and then I found a way out. Everything else that he said checks out."

"So you do know this group better than the rest of us," Skipper said.

"I know the group, but this plan is new to me."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really."

Skipper narrowed his eyes, but Aeon held her ground. Private fidgeted a little and glanced at his leader, whose eyes were still solely on Aeon. She watched him carefully.

"This is getting awkward," Julien said, breaking the silence with a reckless abandon.

"Ringtail, you and your troupe of lemurs need to leave, Marlene, you, too. Aeon, how 'bout you get some shut-eye. Kowalski, double up with Rico on patrol tonight. Private, a word, if you would," Skipper said, and the group parted ways.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"So what do you want to see me about, Skippa?" Private asked as soon as Rico and Kowalski slid down the walkway away from the penguin habitat. He and Skipper stood at the edge of the roof of their headquarters, studying the city around them.

"Just wanted to talk, in private," Skipper replied.

"About what?"

"I dunno. Whaddaya wanna talk about?"

"I don't know, Skippa. It is a nice night, though."

"Mm, it's alright." Private traced a small half-circle with his toe and stared down at the concrete, and Skipper turned his gaze slightly toward Private. "Everything alright, soldier?"

Private stopped what he was doing immediatley and looked up at Skipper. "Oh, it's fine, everything's fine."

"Are ya sure, Private?"

"I know what's coming is dangerous, and I know you think one of us won't make it back alive, but I also know you think it could be me."

"Us." Skipper turned to face Private completely as he spoke.

"Excuse me?"

"Never swim alone, remember? If you go, so do I."

"But Skippa-"

"No 'but's about it. Whatever we do, we do together. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Private saluted his leader, gaining a salute in response, and they pulled their flippers to their sides simultaneously. After a moment, they turned back toward the city. "Y'know, it's kind of strange, knowing there's a giant underground penguin base out there."

"Trust me, Private. I've seen stranger."

"But just think, we have no idea what sort of threat we've sent Kowalski and Rico off to check out. And what if they never come back?"

"Rico's a world-class pyromaniacal psychopath. Who else would I trust anyone with?"

Private conceded on that point, but then he asked, "What happens if we find anything?"

"When, Private. When, and when we do, we'll be ready. Aeon included."

Private nodded and turned back toward the horizon.

POM

Rico got to his feet suddenly and gestured for Kowalski to do the same thing. When he did, Rico sniffed the air and pointed at the ground. Out of curiosity, Kowalski closely examined what his friend was pointing at. The cobblestones under their feet seemed lighter in color than the cobblestones they'd slid across getting to this point.

Gingerly, Kowalski tapped on the cobblestones with his foot. After a moment of this, he pressed his ear against the stones and tapped with his flipper. He gestured for Rico to get down and tapped again. Rico made intrigued noises at the echo of something hollow underneath and rasped, "Kaboom?"

"Not yet," Kowalski replied, getting to his feet. "First, we alert Skipper."

Rico nodded, and together they slid back the way they came.

POM

"Skipper, we've found something," Kowalski said, half his body hoisted up onto the ledge made by the brick wall.

"Excellente," Skipper replied. "What is it?"

"Some sort of chamber under the zoo. It's almost twenty feet beyond the manhole and only a few inches under the paving stones." He pointed in the direction by which he'd just come. "It could be a part of the underground base."

"Not very underground if you ask me." He glanced up at the moon, which was now reaching its zenith. "Ain't no rest for the wicked, boys. Next order of business is waking Aeon up and go check out this cobblestone anomaly."

"Aye, aye, Skipper," Kowalski said, and Rico nodded enthusiastically.

"Skippa, isn't that-?"

"Remember what I said, Private. Ain't no rest for the wicked."

"Yes, sir, I remember."

"Now, let's get this show on the road."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Mm, is it morning yet?" Aeon asked as her eyes fluttered open.

"Negative," Skipper said, "but you still gotta be awake. We have work to do." She hopped out of the bed and rubbed her eyes. "C'mon, you've gotta be awake for this."

"I'm trying, Skipper. Whaddawe need to do?"

"There is a strange anomaly we hope you can help explain with regards to this underground base you've led us to," Kowalski said.

"Okay. So you think I can help you when you go check it out?"

"We're sure of it," Skipper said. "C'mon."

Aeon dutifully followed Skipper, Rico, Kowalski and Private out of the base and ultimately, the habitat. She followed them down a cobblestone walkway to a strangely colored set of cobblestones.

She tapped this cobblestone anomaly with her foot. "There's metal under here," she said.

"So that's what I've been hearing," Kowalski said. "It seems, then, that this is a cleverly disguised escape hatch of some form."

"Maybe we can get in," Private said enthusiastically. At Skipper's look, he added hastily, "I mean, if it's an escape hatch which lets people out, then surely the reverse is true."

Skipper looked from Private to Kowalski, who said, "Logically, Private's suggestion does make sense. However, it seems, judging by the weeds and dirt between the stones, that this hatch hasn't been used in a while."

"So they won't expect us if we use it," Aeon said. "Maybe we really can put it to use."

Skipper scanned the faces of his subordinates for a moment. "Okay, let's do it."

The five penguins managed to work the light cobblestones loose to reveal a metal door which appeared to have been tightly locked. Rico coughed up a stick of dynamite and asked, "Kaboom?"

"Go ahead. I don't feel like wasting time," Skipper said. Rico lit the fuse and set the stick of dynamite on the hatch of the door. Within a minute, there was no fuse to burn, and the stick exploded. The Penguins turned their faces away, shielding them with their flippers.

The fireball dimmed, and the smoke swirled up to the violet-colored sky, and once they had a clear enough field of vision, they circled the hole in the cobblestone walkway. The door had flown open, and Aeon said, "Wow, that door really hasn't been used in a while."

"You go first, Aeon."

She leapt into the hole, followed by the others, and landed in a room, lit only by the moonlight filtering in through the smoke drifting up from the makeshift skylight in the top of the room. "Skippa?" Private asked.

"What is it, soldier?" Skipper replied.

"Just making sure you're still there."

"Okay, then. Now, Aeon, where next?"

Aeon took a few steps forward and extended her flippers to their full reach. Eventually, she found a wall, so she felt along it until she found something which felt like a hatch. "Found the door," she said.

"Okay, Rico, this one goes, too." At Skipper's signal, Rico hacked up another stick of dynamite and lit the fuse, tossing it at the door. The door flew open at the force of the explosion.

"This must be one of the old storage facilities," Aeon said, stepping toward the smoke-clouded threshold. After a moment, she gestured for the other penguins to follow her down a narrow, dark corridor. After a moment, she tapped a code out on the panel next to one of the many doors running down both sides of the corridor. The door hissed as it slid open, revealing an expanse with a floor laced in black powder. Scattered here and there about the chamber were clusters of startled penguins, all staring at the group of five in the doorway.

POM

Hans glanced at the main chamber before slipping through the door to another room. "Sir, we have a break-in," he said. It took all he had to keep his cool and maintain his even tone, lest he give his leader the wrong impression.

The penguin in the chair turned to face him, revealing his, in Hans' mind, at least, striking resemblance to Skipper. "Are they penguins?"

"Yes, sir. All five of them."

"So, Aeon returns, along with the Skipper and his unit."

"What do you suggest we do?"

"I want to see this unit." He got to his feet and walked around the desk. "Hans, tell the Skipper that Trey is expecting him."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

In the silence, one could hear a pin drop. However, it wasn't a falling pin that broke the silence, but the loud hiss of a door closing. The cluster of penguins parted, forming an aisle running from where Skipper, Rico, Kowalski, Private, and Aeon stood all the way across the room to another door, where Hans stood, his wings at his sides. He stepped forward calmly, slowly, methodically. "Skipper, I see life treats you well enough to bring you here," he said. "Trey is expecting you."

Private noticed the shock in his leader's eyes, irregardless of the fact that the rest of his face showed no sign of this shock. "What does he want?" Skipper asked evenly.

"He wants to see you five."

"Skippa, is it...is it safe?" Private asked, his eyes solely on his leader.

"It's perfectly fine, Private. Hans, tell this Trey fella we'll see him in the center of this room as soon as possible."

Hans walked back down the aisle, and as soon as the door closed behind him, every penguin in the room erupted into chatter.

"Skippa, what have you done?"

"Private," Skipper whispered, now fully facing his youngest subordinate, "Don't think less of me, but whatever's supposed to happen tonight, I'm going to stop it in full view of everyone here."

"I don't think less of you, Skippa, but you could die. I won't let that happen."

"And neither will we," Kowalski said. Rico nodded his agreement.

Skipper smiled at his team. "I've been pretty lucky to have this team," he said, "but this could be it."

"If you die, we die with you."

"Absolutely," Private added.

"No time for talking, because guess who's coming," Aeon said, pointing to the door at the far end of the room. The aisle had opened wider as a plump penguin walked with Hans toward the center of the room.

"Ah, the Skipper," the penguin said, eyeing Skipper with a smirk on his face. "I see you have a tightly knit unit at your command." As one, the four male penguins stepped toward the penguin. Aeon hung on the fringes, but after a moment, she stepped with the group. "So, has Aeon decided to join you?"

"What do you want?" Skipper asked.

"Can't a father catch up with his son?"

"Stop right there and surrender Rico," a voice tinted by a Spanish accent shouted.

Aeon was first to turn toward the speaker, none other than Enrique. Rico took a few steps into the little knot formed by his fellow penguins.

"This madness ends now," Skipper and the penguin who looked a lot like him said at the same time. The room descended into complete silence.

Enrique shifted from his offensive stance to merely standing in the threshold of the blown-open door. He took a few steps forward, keeping his head up and scanning the room. Skipper allowed a moment to think that this penguin could possibly be just as paranoid as he was.

The other penguin held up a flipper, and Enrique stopped in his tracks. "Very good, Enrique, but Aeon has returned," he said.

Aeon wheeled on Trey. "Not on your life," she hissed, moving to kick the fat penguin. He grabbed her leg and threw her aside as if she were tissue paper before launching himself at Skipper.

Private didn't have even the slightest chance to think about it before he leapt up into the air and kicked the penguin on the side of the head, sending him into the ground on his side. Private landed on his feet in a defensive stance between Skipper and the other penguin. "Don't even think about hurting Skipper," he said sharply.

"Private," Skipper gasped, almost too low to hear.

The other penguin got to his feet slowly and evenly. "Your Skipper must be a good leader," he said. "I wonder, what makes him so great?"

Private paused a moment and then glanced back at Skipper, who stepped up by his side. Kowalski and Rico flanked Skipper and Private, and Aeon still hung on the fringes. "It's in my understanding," Kowalski began, "that what makes Skipper so great is his skill as a commander."

"Skill as a commander? If he led you here then it seems to be lacking."

"Only because you're full of yourself," Aeon said. She narrowed her eyes at the penguin. "Trey, maybe if you backed off a little, you could be just as good."

"Trey?" Skipper snapped, gesturing to the penguin. "His name's Trey? As in, Trey?"

"Who's Trey?" Private asked.

"If my calculations and albeit limited knowledge of Skipper's family serve me, Trey is Skipper's father," Kowalski said.

For a moment, the five penguins paused in shock, mouths agape, and then Skipper sighed and bowed his head. "Kowalski's right," he said, "but in name only." He looked up again and continued, "My family's here, with my team, and nobody's convincing me otherwise."

Trey lunged toward Skipper again, and it took the whole four-penguin team to hold him off. Aeon used the chaos as an opportunity to slide down the asile to the door Trey had come out of. Hans stuck his foot out, almost sending her flying over her beak, but she recovered herself, got to her feet, and faced him.

"Hans, a pleasure," she said.

"Let's just skip the pleasantries," Hans replied, aiming a blow at Aeon. She blocked with ease and kicked him, sending him into the wall. He recovered himself easily and moved to strike her again. She blocked as easily as before.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"I said, 'let's skip the pleasantries,' but I wouldn't expect a girl to understand that."

Aeon launched Hans into a fray of penguins in which he didn't have much of a chance and turned toward the door before she could tell if he beat the odds or not.

POM

Kowalski and Rico finally pinned Trey to the floor and Skipper stood on his chest. "So, what's the big plan?" Skipper asked.

"Just you wait, and when the clock strikes midnight, this whole base goes up," Trey replied.

"Why build a base if you're just going to blow it up?" Private asked.

"That's what I'd like to know," Enrique said, stepping forward, his flippers folded across his chest. "Pregunta buena."

"Excuse me?"

"That means 'good question' in Spanish. I always thought this...Trey...was a little off."

Skipper turned his gaze back toward Trey. "The only reason I can think of to blow up your own base is if you u sed it as a decoy and you don't need it anymore," he said. "That true?"

"The explosion's the decoy," Trey replied. "I told you. Now kill me."

Skipper glanced back at his three men and Enrique, but no one said anything.

POM

Aeon scanned the office as soon as she entered and then went about searching the place for anything which could resemble anything connected to what was about to happen. She found nothing and moved to go back into the main chamber when she felt it. The earth rocked.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Skipper saw and felt what was going on before he heard the explosion. Enrique reacted faster than he could, and he had managed to get most of the penguins into the main corridor just as Skipper could see Aeon sliding out of the office. "It's happening," she cried as she slid. "Get out, now."

Rico and Kowalski were the first to leave, and Private and Skipper exchanged a long look before sliding out side-by-side. Aeon was right behind them as a fireball filled the room.

POM

Julien, Mort, and Maurice stared at the pillar of fire pushing its way out of the manhole in the center of the walkway. A few feet away, a second pillar of fire pushed its way out of a larger hole in the walkway, carrying with it a lot of penguins.

The penguins fell to the ground, and for the most part, they picked themselves up, brushed themselves off, and headed away from the pillars of fire, which were well on their way to calming down into pillars of smoke.

Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico were in the pick-themselves-up-and-brush-themselves-off camp, and as soon as Aeon could, so was she, but Private wasn't.

"Go with them," Skipper said to Aeon as he and his men walked over to Private. "Kowalski, analysis."

Kowalski scanned Private and checked his breathing and pulse. "He's alive, just unconscious," he finally said.

"Okay, good. Coulda been much worse. Let's take him inside."

POM

Private could feel himself returning to his body, and he could feel a cold slab under him, save the fact that his head rested on a nice, fluffy pillow. It felt nice.

He could hear a voice, and after a moment, it went from distant and muffled to close by and perfectly clear. "Wake up, Private," Skipper whispered. Private's eyes fluttered open, and sure enough, he was looking up at Skipper's face. His leader seemed upset but at the same time relieved that he was awake.

"Hello, Skippa," Private said.

"Thanks for defending my life."

"It was the least I could do. After all, I remember when I wanted someone to defend me. I just didn't want you to feel that way."

Skipper smiled and leaned forward, running his flipper along Private's forehead. Private allowed himself to relax, and he was absolutely certain he was going to fall asleep again, if it wasn't for the fact that Skipper still had a few things to say. "It's over now, Private. Don't worry," he said.

"What happens to the underground now?"

"I dunno, but I guess as long as Trey's out of the picture, we could be allies."

"Oh, alright. What is it about Trey, anyway?"

"It's no secret that he's lost his mind, but the rest is classified."

"Am I to assume that's code for 'you don't want to talk about it'?"

"Yes. You know I don't dwell on my past. I haven't for most of my life."

"I know, Skippa, but I was just curious."

"Curiosity could get you killed."

"It could also save us."

Skipper paused a moment. "Good point," he said. "Anyway, back to business as normal tomorrow. Make sure you get some shut-eye."

"Aye, aye, Skippa. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You can count on it, soldier." Skipper climbed up the ladder and climbed into his own bed, falling asleep instantly.


End file.
